Chapter 49

I never knew we had an off day. It was so surprising and I jumped when I was told. It was not like we were free to go outside the gates, but we could do what we wanted. I had planned to sleep and maybe go to the lake, and have a swim at a later time but all those dreams were dashed when Maman, as asked me to call her since I gave her the flowers, told me to meet them at the burial sites.

 We had not had any altercation with the masters as far as I was aware and had not lost anyone recently, I was confused as to why we were to meet there. Nevertheless, I tied my scarf and went out to look for them.

I never knew it was such a big affair, so I was pretty shocked to see everyone present. I saw Itoh waving me over, so I went and sat with her. I tried talking to her but she shook her head, so I quickly realized talking was not allowed.

In the middle of the circle was the old man I saw while coming to apply for my pass. I gaped at him, I thought it was a figment of my imagination as I had not seen him since I started working here. It was certainly real as he stood over there with a staff wrapped with cowries around it. When he shook the staff, it made a tinkling sound, and because of how quiet everywhere was, it echoed round and filled the space with a spiritual aura.

I was not a spiritualist since my parents were not one but I knew it exists. It was strange witnessing one but it was as if I was in a trance and could not stare away. I followed his every movement with my eyes. It was one of the oldest traditions that exist and I loved the fact that they held onto it even on foreign grounds.

It made it feel as if we were still in our hometown. If I squeezed my eyes tight enough, with the echoes and noise of the cowries surrounding me, it felt as if I was back at home, watching the neighbour performing their own rituals at their homes. It felt familiar so I embraced it fully.

After a while of walking around the circle while muttering some weird words which I did not understand, he finally sat down in the middle of the circle, immediately he did so, everyone went on their knees with their heads touching the ground. I scrambled to get into the position too.

After a while of kneeling like that, he said something, and everyone raised their heads up. A bowl with murky water in it was brought to him, he placed it in front of his crossed legs and closed his eyes while he chanted. When he was done, everyone starting from Maman walked towards him, and he would pour some of the water on their heads